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Meta on Trial, Accused of Enabling Child Sexual Exploitation; Interview with Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO): Top Republicans Optimistic About DHS Deal After White House Meeting; New Details on Fatal Collision Between Plane, Fire Truck at LaGuardia; Oil Prices Fluctuate After Trump Postpones Iran Strikes. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 24, 2026 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:00]

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: "Attorney General makes sensationalist, irrelevant, and distracting arguments by cherry- picking select documents. We are focused on demonstrating our long- standing commitment to supporting young people. For over a decade, we've listened to parents, worked with experts and law enforcement, and conducted in-depth research to understand the issues that matter most, saying we use these insights to make meaningful changes."

Now, as you said, depending on how the jury lands here, if they side with New Mexico, we could see Meta forced to pay potentially billions of dollars in damages, and also ultimately forced to make changes to its platform. So I asked Attorney General Raul Torrez yesterday, ahead of closing arguments, what changes he would like to see. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL TORREZ, NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL: First, we need real age verification. We need a re-examination of the algorithmic design, the way in which we are, you know, currently seeing an environment that connects people with their interests, as one of the whistleblowers says, that, you know, Instagram and Facebook are very good at connecting people with their interests, and if they have an interest in young girls, that's exactly what the platform will connect a user to. That has to stop, and so my hope is that beyond age verification, we really look at product design and the functioning of the algorithm, specifically with respect to how many underage users are on the platform and who might be in those spaces looking to exploit them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUFFY: So we now await a decision from this jury about whether Meta has violated New Mexico's consumer protection law here and put children at risk, and that's all just more legal pressure on Meta as we continue to await a jury verdict in that L.A. trial as well.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Clare Duffy, thank you so much. A lot of people are going to be watching this. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now. All right, this morning Congress could, keyword here, could be close to a deal to fund most of Homeland Security, which includes the TSA agents, ending the airport chaos caused by hours-long waits in TSA lines because there aren't enough people working.

Also breaking overnight, Iran launching waves of missile attacks on Israel and Tel Aviv, firing right back. Could this escalation derail the progress the president says he is making with Tehran?

And a wild story out of Missouri, police taking action after fentanyl was found inside Barbies at a discount store.

John and Kate, out this week. I'm Sara Sidner with Erica Hill. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: The breaking news this morning, could those long lines at the airport potentially be coming to an end? Air travelers facing another day of potentially hours-long wait at security checkpoints. As we're learning about a possible breakthrough in talks to end the partial government shutdown, that of course would mean the TSA workers would be paid, among other things.

A top set of Republicans coming out of a meeting at the White House last night hopeful about a deal. The proposal would fund the Department of Homeland Security, except for a small part of the immigration enforcement budget. Now later on, Republicans would then try to push through a bill without Democratic votes that would fund the rest of some of those ICE priorities.

All of this, of course, happening as ICE agents have been deployed to more than a dozen airports across the country. Now the Trump administration says those agents are there to assist the TSA. As these lines grow long, patience is short for a number of travelers.

It's important to note they're not able to help with security operations. Joining me now, Republican Congressman Jason Smith of Missouri, who's also the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Sir, it's nice to have you with us this morning.

When we look at what happened last night, this meeting between Republican lawmakers and the White House, I know you've been a no on any partial DHS funding that would reopen the government. This most recent proposal, though, would fund all but a small portion of ICE, which is already funded under last year's big bill. So based on what we do know this morning, is this an agreement you think you could get behind?

REP. JASON SMITH (R-MO), HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: First off, I've never had the opportunity to vote on any kind of partial funding. They've only been doing that over on the United States Senate side. Every funding that's came before us for Department of Homeland Security, I have supported.

It's promising that it appears that there is some kind of agreement that is going to make sure that TSA agents who have been without a paycheck three times in the last six months are actually going to get paid. And so whatever we can do to open up Department of Homeland and everyone work together, I think is the best thing for all Americans.

HILL: So I know that you're very close with your former roommate, Senator Markwayne Mullin, who of course was just confirmed as DHS Secretary. He has a very close relationship with the president.

[08:05:00]

Prior to his confirmation, The New York Times was reporting that as recently as Friday, he was he was working closely with your Democratic colleague in the House, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, on a DHS funding compromise, which include some judicial warrants and cases for federal agents, which is something Democrats were pushing for. Do you sense that this shift maybe that we're seeing from these meetings at the White House overnight, coming one day after the president said no to a potential deal, do you think any of this could be related to that confirmation?

SMITH: There's no question that Secretary Mullin is the right person at the right time. He's been working for weeks to try to get funding for the Department of Homeland Security with our fellow Democrats. A lot of people refer to Secretary Mullin as the House and the Senate whisper, since he was in both chambers and he continues to meet with both members of Congress and senators, Republican and Democrat, to try to just bring people together.

HILL: So is that a, yes?

SMITH: Without a doubt, I believe that Secretary Mullin has been working to make sure the Department of Homeland Security is funded.

HILL: When we look at what is happening in this moment, ICE agents deployed at more than a dozen, 14 airports. They are not trained for security screenings, as we know. The staffing shortages at security have led to -- they are a factor, I should say, not the only one, but a factor, a significant factor in the wait times at airports.

My colleagues have been covering this extensively. I'm talking specifically about at the Atlanta airport, at the Houston airport. They both noted the presence of those agents outside of security around the lines that were wrapping around, but they didn't see any evidence that this was actually helping with passenger wait times.

Do you feel that this is an effective use of not only ICE agents' time, but is this actually a way to reduce wait time for travelers?

SMITH: First off, it's unfortunate that there are wait times, but that's a result of hundreds of TSA agents not being paid and just not showing up for work, and so this is why that the ICE agents have been asked to be there, to try to help with assistance. The ICE -- what's interesting is, is the ICE agents are actually being paid for it, because they were all funded within the Big Beautiful Bill. However, if you hear my counterparts, the Democrats, they will tell you we cannot fund Department of Homeland Security because we have to stop ICE funding.

Guess what? ICE funding is being funded, whether you fund Department of Homeland Security or not, because we fund it in the Big Beautiful Bill.

HILL: I apologize, I couldn't hear you for a minute when you started that answer. I just wanted to be clear, do you see that this is a role, and I apologize again, I couldn't hear you, for ICE agents, is this in any way reducing the wait time for passengers?

SMITH: What I said is, is the reason why there's a wait time is because the Democrats have refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security and TSA agents have been without paychecks three times out of the last six months, and so the ICE agents are actually being paid. However, that's what the Democrats wanted to do, is to defund the ICE agents, but they should see that since the Big Beautiful Bill passed, ICE agents are fully paid for, and that is why they're able to show up and work.

HILL: But they're -- OK, but that's a non-answer then on whether they're actually helping the situation in terms of wait times. Congressman, I do appreciate your time this morning.

SMITH: These aren't non-answers, you just may not like my answer.

HILL: No, it's an answer, I just didn't hear an answer to the specific question of, are these agents actually able to help reduce the wait times? That's what I didn't hear.

SMITH: Anything right now is helpful whenever the Democrats are refusing to pay these federal workers, so any federal workers that's willing to stand up and help U.S. citizens get through the airports, I think is beneficial.

HILL: Congressman Jason Smith, thank you for your time this morning -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right ahead, new details this morning in the investigation of that fatal collision on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, what we're learning about the years of warnings from pilots before the deadly crash.

And a jury finds Bill Cosby liable for sexually assaulting a woman in the 70s, the millions of dollars he's ordered to pay.

Also, an oil refinery burst into flames, what we're learning about what led to this explosion.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Right now, the NTSB is on the ground investigating that deadly plane crash at LaGuardia Airport in New York. One runway remains closed, and we're now learning there were dire warnings long before this crash from concerned pilots. Now, so far, the plane's cockpit, voice, and flight data recorders have been recovered.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy tells CNN investigators are expected to provide an initial readout of those recordings today. Look, we're now seeing this new security camera footage also that captured the awful moment right there where you see the impact between that inbound Air Canada flight and the Port Authority fire truck. We can get a better sense of how the crash occurred from an aerial look.

Now, the emergency fire truck at the center of the crash was cleared by air traffic control to cross the runway.

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As you see, they're just moments before the inbound Air Canada plane landed, ultimately leading to the deadly collision at about 100 miles per hour, despite an effort to slow down. Where you see that plane, that is where they have closed, still today, that particular runway.

CNN Aviation correspondent Pete Muntean joins us now from LaGuardia. Pete, there's so many questions here, but also some warnings from pilots that you're learning about. Tell us what you're learning this morning.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Sara, Runway 4 here at LaGuardia, 7,000 feet long, still closed right now with the big flashing X here. And off in the distance is the Air Canada express flight, still sitting up on its tail as investigators are still arriving here on the scene, because they too have been caught up in this travel mess at TSA checkpoints nationwide. You know, investigators were able to survey the scene on foot for the first time yesterday, but NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy says the debris field is very spread out here along Runway 4 and Taxiway Delta, the fourth taxiway up of this 7,000 foot long runway, which is making it very, very hard for them to get to the scene.

But they were able to cut a hole in the tail of this Air Canada express flight and able to remove the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. And NTSB chair Homendy just confirmed to me over the phone that the NTSB will provide an initial readout of what is on that cockpit voice recorder during a public briefing later today. That is so key into filling in the gaps in the timeline here and filling in some of the gaps of communication that took place here.

There have been so many questions about what was taking place in the air traffic control tower at the time of this crash. And the NTSB says it will review the timecards and the sign-in sheets in the tower cab to provide down to the moment who was in the control tower at the very precise moment of this crash. It begs mentioning, though, that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy refutes any claim that there was only one person in the tower at the time of this crash.

I want you to listen now to NTSB chair Homendy. She says it is so critical right now for investigators to follow the facts to really get to the bottom of what happened here that this is not able to be pinned on just any one thing. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIRWOMAN: We have a lot of data right now, a lot of information, including information on tower staffing. But the NTSB deals in facts. We don't speculate.

We don't take one person at their word. We verify that information carefully before we provide it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Two other big pieces of data here, Sara. One thing that the FAA is reviewing on behalf of the National Transportation Safety Board is a system called ASDX. That is something that would have warned potentially of this ground collision in the making.

It's a ground and surface collision warning radar. And then there's also this new data from pilots that we have reported on, anonymous safety reports from pilots in which they were concerned and said, please do something about LaGuardia, which they considered at capacity. They say that in the context of the midair collision at Reagan National Airport just over a year ago, they said this airport could be next.

And then, of course, there are these big questions about what was happening in the fire truck. We will see if we find out anything more about the communications between the firefighters on board. Thankfully, they are both OK and one is expected to be released from the hospital soon.

No doubt that the NTSB will want to speak to them as well.

SIDNER: Pete, it is unbelievable that the firefighters are OK when you look at how their truck is hit. And it in this new video we have is literally like a toy just tumbling across that runway. It is just unbelievable that they're OK.

And thank goodness they are. Pete Muntean, thank you so much for your great reporting there on the scene in New York above LaGuardia Airport.

All right, coming up, lines at airports stacking up across the nation once again. Are the ICE agents deployed to help ease the strain on unpaid TSA agents actually helping get people through?

And two people killed when a helicopter crashes through a roof of a warehouse. The latest details on all those stories ahead.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: New this morning, fluctuating oil prices. They climbed overnight to 100 plus dollars a barrel but began dropping a bit this morning.

Let's take a look at where Brent Crude is. The global oil benchmark now back up at $102 a barrel. That is not good news.

WTI, the U.S. benchmark, is back up to over $91 a barrel and climbing. Americans have been seeing gas prices, of course, steadily climbing since the war began.

They rose again overnight. This is day after day since the war has started. Every single day it's gone up.

We are now nearing $4 a gallon on average. That's a 35 percent jump just in the last month. CNN's David Goldman is back with us now.

The ups and downs of the oil prices, are they all based on what the president is saying? How the markets are looking at what's happening? Feelings?

I don't know. What are they based on? Because they do go up and down quite a bit.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, we had an enormous move yesterday, and that was because President Trump said that we're close to a deal with Iran and that five days of, you know, no strikes, we're going to talk to Iran and then at the end, we'll see if we can get a deal.

[08:25:00]

But he said that the Strait of Hormuz is going to open very soon. He told Kaitlan Collins that yesterday. But now today, I think the market is starting to say, well, wait a minute. You know, if Iran is saying that they're not actually talking to us and President Trump is saying that he still wants $200 billion for this war, is it going to open by the end of the week?

Is it going to open very soon? And so there's some skepticism certainly in the market today.

SIDNER: When it comes to gas prices, as we see these sort of rises and falls, the one thing that has been constant throughout is that the gas prices have inched up every single day. What will it take for them to start coming down? Will it be fast or will it kind of be step?

GOLDMAN: Well, it definitely won't be fast. So we have these dynamics in the gas market. It's called rockets and feathers.

It's not just the name of my two person boy band. It is a market dynamic that we have where gas prices start to surge when oil goes higher and it starts to come down very, very slowly. And there are a few reasons for that.

First of all, we have to get that strait back open. Until then, oil is going to stay high. And that's the biggest input for gas prices.

But then also, it's not like flipping on a switch when you turn on all the oil production. Remember, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, all of them shut off their production because there was nowhere to put the oil. And then if you're a gas station owner, you don't want to be the first person to start lowering prices.

You're enjoying the profit that you're making. That can take time as well. It's going to take weeks, if not months, to get back down. SIDNER: Rockets and feathers. It is a great name for a band. I will come check out your band.

GOLDMAN: Yes, we got CDs. We're working on Spotify.

SIDNER: All right. Well, that's interesting. I don't think the market's going to like that at all. CDs. David Goldman, taking us back to the 80s. Thank you. Appreciate it -- Erica.

HILL: Is there a deal where you can get like 10 for a pair? I'm here for that.

SIDNER: There is.

HILL: On a more serious note, Iran launching new attacks on Israel as President Trump and Iran are sending conflicting messages on the state of talks.

Also, authorities taking action after fentanyl was found inside Barbie doll packaging at a discount store.

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